1978 Express-News survey of adult films

While scrolling through the microfilm looking for the story discussed last week, my eyes fell upon this headline in the October 15, 1978, Express-News:

Pardon?

Yes, an “Express-News survey” of adult films showed that “San Antonio is strictly an X-rated city — far more conservative than Houston or Austin….”

The story goes on to say that a “major reason” for that was heavy enforcement of the “local community standard” by police and the DA’s office. Likewise, officials in Dallas, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi were similarly tough on porn. Houston and Austin, not so much.

A new city ordinance had gone into effect on Sept. 5 that prohibited “the location of any adult bookstore, theater or entertainment establishment within 500 feet of any residential zone in San Antonio.” In the central business district, such establishments could not operate “within 1,000 feet of each other.” Rules were more lenient outside the city limits, but county officials had promised increased enforcement.

An ADA told the Express-News that, in the last three years, the county had 25 obscenity convictions, with three so far for 1978. Two of those resulted from a recent raid on the Puss-N-Boots Theater outside the city limits.

An SAPD vice officer was quoted as being “proud of the fact that we don’t have any hard-core movies.”

On the other hand, an official with a local theater chain said “There is a big following for X-rated movies just like there is a following for Disney movies.” The chain bought those films where they bought their other rated films. “They’re not shady characters….There is a market. They book and we show.”